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ŚB 11.22.28

Devanagari

त्वत्तो ज्ञानं हि जीवानां प्रमोषस्तेऽत्र शक्तित: ।
त्वमेव ह्यात्ममायाया गतिं वेत्थ न चापर: ॥ २८ ॥

Text

tvatto jñānaṁ hi jīvānāṁ
pramoṣas te ’tra śaktitaḥ
tvam eva hy ātma-māyāyā
gatiṁ vettha na cāparaḥ

Synonyms

tvattaḥ — from You; jñānam — knowledge; hi — indeed; jīvānām — of the living beings; pramoṣaḥ — stealing away; te — Your; atra — in this knowledge; śaktitaḥ — by the potency; tvam — You; eva — alone; hi — indeed; ātma — Your own; māyāyāḥ — of the illusory potency; gatim — the real nature; vettha — You know; na — not; ca — and; aparaḥ — any other person.

Translation

From You alone the knowledge of the living beings arises, and by Your potency that knowledge is stolen away. Indeed, no one but Yourself can understand the real nature of Your illusory potency.

Purport

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: “From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” By the Lord’s causeless mercy one is enlightened with knowledge, and by the Lord’s illusory potency that knowledge vanishes and one is merged into ignorance. Those bewildered by māyā cannot understand the difference between the material body and the spirit soul and thus should hear from the Lord Himself to remove this illusory covering.